Apple Supplier Broadcom, Tech Giant Cisco Pitted In Data Center War

By | March 21, 2016

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Tech giant Cisco Systems ‘ ( CSCO ) 16-nanometer data center semiconductor could slug Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Broadcom ( AVGO ), which is ramping its 28-nm Tomahawk technology, an RBC analyst said Monday. Broadcom’s Tomahawk will go for $600-$700 per chip, replacing the outmoded Trident chip that costs less than $500, on average. Unlike Trident, however, Tomahawk won’t win across-the-board vs. Cisco, RBC’s Amit Daryanani wrote. Cisco recently unveiled its CloudScale application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), in direct competition with data center chipmakers Broadcom, Cavium ( CAVM ), Intel ( INTC ), Marvell Technology Group ( MRVL ) and Mellanox Technologies ( MLNX ). In the past, Broadcom’s Trident won “across the board” at Cisco. This time, Cisco is likely to use its own CloudScale ASIC in its Nexus 9000, 9200 and 9300 platforms, leaving the 9500 to hold the Tomahawk silicon, Daryanani said. Other users include Hewlett-Packard Enterprise ( HPE ), Arista Networks ( ANET ) and Juniper Networks ( JNPR ), which had a two-year head start to begin ramping Tomahawk-based solution, Daryanani wrote. He sees a five- to six-year lifespan for the product. Still, “we believe Cisco encroachment into the merchant silicon market needs to be monitored by Broadcom investors,” he wrote. “For now, we continue to believe Broadcom’s solutions are the market-leaders for cloud/data center spenders.” Daryanani maintained his 180 price target and top performer rating on Broadcom stock. Shares rose a fraction Monday, to 152.89, on a day when Apple released new products that didn’t represent huge advances and were expected. Cisco stock fell a fraction on Wall Street Monday, while Apple was flat. Scalper1 News

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